Jonas Höchst et al. LoRa-based Device-to-Device Smartphone Communication for Crisis Scenarios LoRa-based Device-to-Device Smartphone Communication for Crisis Scenarios Jonas Höchst Lars Baumgärtner University of Marburg, Germany Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany
[email protected] [email protected] Franz Kuntke Alvar Penning Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany University of Marburg, Germany
[email protected] [email protected] Artur Sterz Bernd Freisleben University of Marburg, Germany University of Marburg, Germany Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany
[email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT In this paper, we present an approach to facilitate long-range device-to-device communication via smartphones in crisis scenarios. Through a custom firmware for low-cost LoRa capable micro-controller boards, called rf95modem, common devices for end users can be enabled to use LoRa through a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or serial connection. We present two applications utilizing the flexibility provided by the proposed firmware. First, we introduce a novel device-to-device LoRa chat application that works a) on the two major mobile platforms Android and iOS and b) on traditional computers like notebooks using a console-based interface. Second, we demonstrate how other infrastructure-less technology can benefit from our approach by integrating it into the DTN7 delay-tolerant networking software. The firmware, the device-to-device chat application, the integration into DTN7, as well as the experimental evaluation code fragments are available under permissive open-source licenses. Keywords LoRa, Disaster Communication, Device-To-Device Communication, INTRODUCTION The communication technologies developed and deployed in the last decades are integral parts of our daily life and are used by mobile phones, computers, or smart applications in homes and cities.